Showcasing one's own site - Thoughts

[swtdivalove]

I know I'll probably get ribbed for this, but that is perfectly ok for what I am about to say.

Looking through a bunch of the sites in the Showcase, I have noticed that people are basically using it as advertising their sites.

SMF sites have a lot in common with each other, they mostly have all the same mods installed, typical sets of forums.  But, nothing really sets them off differently with each other.  I am not talk about the idea behind the owners/admins sites and what they are set up to by and what they talk about.  What I am talking about is when I go and look at these sites, they have themes from a theme site and the theme authors.  No real derivative work on their own with maybe the exception of a banner.

When I go and look at these sites, and I look at them, not the content, but my overall impression of these sites is that I've seen that theme before.  On a rare occasion, I do see a truly 'UNIQUE' theme that I had not seen before.

Showcasing ones site is much, much more than the content or topic they are covering.  It's the whole site, theme included.

Visiting many sites on a daily basis is a hobby of mine, and I truly like to see unique things and the such.  But, if every site had the Dilbert theme (one I keep reading about), then it is not all that unique to me and I won't spend that much time on their site.

Themes give an overall impression, but when seeing the same theme over and over again, it starts becoming mundane.

While I realize that there are a vast majority of people out there that do not know how to create graphics, nor code HTML and downloading a theme is an easy solution for them.  However, again how mundane, the sites become boring to the eye.

I have been to a few SMF related sites.  Such as; portamx.com, smfhacks.com, simpleportal.net and a couple of the theme sites.   They are all different in their looks, truly unique.   That's what keeps me coming back and visiting.

Showcasing one's site should be about what they have done to the site beyond downloading mods and themes, a little about their content and topic, but bring on the eye-candy of their own works graphically.

This is nothing more than my personal opinion and does not reflect any malice or discontent towards those who are not graphically or HTML inclined.  In fact, this is nothing more than an observation than opinion.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.  Again, I do not mean to offend or upset anyone, as that is not my intention in the least.

[metallica48423]

It is one of the reasons we ask for a description of what their forum is about when they submit their sites.  The showcase board is currently topic moderated.

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=189886.0

[Jade Elizabeth]

I agree in full!!

I make my own themes and do a LOT of custom coding for my site. Yes, I do have mods other sites have, but my forum customises even those. Rarely we will leave the code alone.

I have only developed one theme for public use, which is on the mod site:
http://custom.simplemachines.org/themes/index.php?lemma=1148

But I know of 6 people who have gone and done their own thing with it, which is what I intended .

I kind of get disappointed with "all forums being the same" too.... SMF is HIGHLY customisable, and that's why I love it. I think others should embrace that. Why should all forums be the same? That's like toilet paper. You buy the cheapest, or the closest, or the one that looks like it hurts least and is easy to flush .

We need variety!

[Paracelsus]

I also agree with swtdivalove.

My site is on Showcase and, although I used a pre-existing theme, I customized it to the point of being very difficult to actually remember the original one. I think people should try its best to showcase original work and not just the usual theme with absolutely no customization whatsoever. There are some notable exceptions that really bring SMF layout to a new level, but the majority is unfortunately too much 'advertising-focused'.

I don't know if there's a simple solution to this... maybe a 'Hall of Fame' or 'Original Showcase' board with more strict rules where people could point out the original theme and the customization process... topics would fall into this board if the customization would be considered significant in some way. Just an idea.

[swtdivalove]

Like for my site: National Football League Fan Site of Teams  I started with the default theme and I'm working on getting it themed the way I'd like.

But, the way you are suggesting it would take more people and cost more time doing it that way.